Last Tuesday, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that he and 17 other Attorneys General from across the country “are exploring ways in which they can work together on key climate change-related initiatives, specifically ongoing and potential investigations into whether fossil fuel companies misled the public and investors about the risks of climate change.”

Most of the states involved have worked together in the past on multi-state climate-change efforts, including pressing the EPA to limit climate change pollution from fossil-fueled electric power plants, defending federal rules controlling climate change emissions from large industrial facilities, and pushing for federal controls on emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane.

Attorney General Schneiderman said:

“With gridlock and dysfunction gripping Washington, it is up to the states to lead on the generation-defining issue of climate change. We stand ready to defend the next president’s climate change agenda, and vow to fight any efforts to roll-back the meaningful progress we’ve made over the past eight years. Our offices are seriously examining the potential of working together on high-impact, state-level initiatives, such as investigations into whether fossil fuel companies have misled investors about how climate change impacts their investments and business decisions.”